Conservation committee urges burying utilities and larger buffers on Leo Drive subdivision

The Town of Essex Conservation & Trails Committee on July 14 voted to send recommendations to the Development Review Board on an 8‑lot subdivision at 15 Leo Drive, urging the applicant and reviewers to vary (and where feasible bury) utility lines and to consider enlarging the planned 50‑foot buffer.

The committee’s recommendation, drafted during the meeting, thanked the applicant for changes already made in response to the committee’s earlier input and requested one focused follow‑up: “We recommend varying utility lines where possible in order to help maintain the scenic overlay district and provide infrastructure resilience during storm events,” the committee’s letter will say, per the motion the group approved unanimously.

Committee members reviewed prior suggestions the committee had made to the developer — relocating a water line to permit street trees, adding a third tree per lot, burying power lines, connecting Leo Drive to Saxon Hill Road and establishing a 20‑foot trail easement into the 50‑foot buffer — and noted the site plan implemented some but not all items. During discussion several members proposed increasing the buffer from the currently planned 50 feet to 70–100 feet where feasible, arguing larger vegetated buffers would better protect nearby residential areas and forest blocks from noise, light and potential industrial uses planned on some lots.

The subdivision plan also proposes an 8‑foot‑to‑10‑foot recreation path in places where an existing VAST (snowmobile) route currently runs. Members pressed for clarity about whether the new path would preserve the existing VAST corridor or effectively reroute it, and debated whether the VAST chapter and affected private landowners should be formally engaged before final approval. The committee did not adopt a motion to insist the developer grant VAST a permanent right to the new path, but it asked that connectivity and access be clarified in the application record.

By a recorded voice vote the committee authorized staff to transmit the recommendations to the Development Review Board. The committee chair noted the recommendations are advisory; the DRB and the applicant retain the final decisions on engineering and easement terms.

What happens next: The committee will send the drafted letter to the DRB and follow the development’s subsequent hearings and submissions. The committee asked staff to confirm whether undergrounding utilities was feasible for specific segments on the plan and to provide that technical detail in its letter if available.